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Organic fertilizing helps to increase the quantity and quality of the crop, which allows you to grow environmentally friendly vegetables and fruits. If at the same time you need to save your budget, then you can use green dressing. Here we are talking about making fertilizers from nettles and dandelions. So, herbs-weeds and other tops can usefully be used as a free mineral supplement. Feeding cucumbers with nettles is a cheap but very effective fertilization method. This will be discussed in the article.
At first glance, nettle is a useless weed, however, it contains a whole range of nutrients needed for cucumbers:
- organic acids;
- vitamins;
- trace elements;
- tannins;
- phytoncides, etc.
It is evident that this weed should not be written off from the accounts.
Plant properties
Nettle is the most sought-after homemade organic fertilizer. Its main advantage is the presence of almost all easily digestible trace elements, such as, for example, magnesium, potassium and calcium.
Cooking rules
In order for you to get a nutritious and healthy mixture, when making fertilizer from nettle, you need to follow certain rules:
- The collection should be carried out before the seeds form on the stems.
- The nettle must be intact.
- The infusion should be stirred twice three times a week.
- To speed up the fermentation process, the solution must be stored in the sun. You can also add yeast or food leaven to the nettle.
- The remainder of the fertilizer can be stored in a plastic container. The storage period is unlimited. The only thing is that the composition needs to be covered for the winter so that it does not freeze.
- Use the composition as a fertilizer no more often than once every 2 weeks. After feeding, the cucumbers should be watered abundantly.
- To make the smell of the composition less harsh, add Valerian officinalis root to the container where it is stored.
Nettle feeding will protect cucumbers from pests and all kinds of diseases. Experienced gardeners do not discard or eradicate nettles from their plots. Having prepared the infusion once, you can use it during the entire summer season.
Application in the gardening business
Due to the fact that nettle burns, many gardeners dislike it. However, this property can be made an advantage. For example, stinging nettles can be placed at the roots of cucumbers. This shelter will slow down the growth of weeds and provide excellent protection against pests such as slugs.
In addition, shredded nettles can be used as mulch. Such fertilizer for cucumbers will be very useful. It also prevents the formation of erosion on the ground.
Fertilizer preparation
To make top dressing for nettle cucumbers is very simple. To do this, you need to mow the weed and dry it a little, you can even dry it. Then the nettle is crushed and placed in containers.
So, chopped dried or dried nettles must be put into tanks, barrels or cut-off bottles, and then filled with water. You can use standing water or rainwater. Place containers with infusion in a semi-shaded place for fermentation.Nettle should settle for 10-15 days. During fermentation, the infusion will smell unpleasant, so the containers should be installed away from the windows of the house, preferably somewhere in the backyard.
To limit the access of oxygen to the container with nettle infusion, it must be closed with polyethylene. The readiness of the infusion is determined by smell. After fermentation is complete, the contents of the bottles will smell like fresh manure. The finished liquid can be used to feed cucumbers by adding it to the water for irrigation:
- for feeding plants in a ratio of 1: 5;
- for roots - 1: 2.
The rest of the crops, including indoor plants, can be fed with nettle infusion. Plants will quickly grow and strengthen after such feeding: the leaves will become bright and glossy, and the process of growth and ripening of cucumbers will also accelerate.
Recipe for making bread and nettle fertilizer
If you insist on nettle with bread, you get a nutritious kvass for plants. To prepare it, you will need:
- nettle - stems and leaves;
- kvass;
- leftover rolls and bread;
- natural yeast.
All ingredients should be infused for 3-5 days. Fill the container with ¾ of nettles and fill with water with diluted yeast, leftover bread and kvass to the same level. Otherwise, fertilizer will spill over the edges during fermentation.
After the completion of the fermentation processes, the contents of the container must be filtered. The liquid is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. Potash agrochemicals and superphosphates can be added to this composition.
Infusion of nettle and dandelions
Take nettles and dandelions as the basis for the composition. Collect the plants before seeds form on them and dry them, and then grind them. Place the nettles and dandelions in a container, 1/8 full. Then the composition is filled with water with humate previously diluted in it (1 tsp per 10 liters of water).
This infusion should stand for 4–5 days. Ash or other ready-made organic matter can be added to the composition. It is worth noting that other components can also be added to this type of fertilizer:
- yarrow;
- stepchildren of tomatoes;
- sagebrush;
- shepherd's bag;
- wheatgrass with roots;
- comfrey;
- chamomile;
- mother and stepmother.
Cereals are also not suitable for processing, because when they decompose, they form alcohol-containing compounds that have a detrimental effect on plantings.
How to improve the quality of feeding
If you apply one simple trick, then you can improve the recipes described in this article. To preserve the maximum amount of substances useful for cucumbers, cover the container with fermented grass with a film.
The fact is that polyethylene withstands the deformation exerted on it by methane formed during the decomposition of nettles. Thus, a hermetic course of fermentation is ensured, without access to oxygen. The process takes 2 weeks.
Nettle ash
Nettle mulch and infusion are not all fertilizers that can be made from this weed. It can also be used to produce ash... It is volatile, lightweight and has a bluish tint. The advantage of nettle ash is that it contains more than 30 trace elements and slightly less than 40% potassium.
According to experts, nettle ash is much healthier than wood ash. To prepare nettle ash, you need to mow and dry the weed, and then burn it. Better to do it in the evening. Then in the morning the ash will already be cooled, which will allow you to put it in some kind of container and use it as needed. Nettle ash is used in the same way as wood ash.
Nettle fertilizer as a universal remedy
As mentioned above, you can use nettle top dressing for almost all garden and flower crops. This fertilizer is great for feeding strawberries... It nourishes the plant and stimulates its growth. Additionally, nettle feeding increases the sugar level in berries. Nettle infusion is also an excellent recharge for tomatoes. It stimulates the growth of bushes and fruits, due to its high content of calcium and potassium.
For cucumbers, cabbage and peppers, nettle fertilizer supplemented with dandelions is better. To feed the flowers, you need to add ash to the fertilizer. So, their growth is stimulated, and flowering becomes abundant.
An increasing number of amateur and professional gardeners are switching to natural fertilizers. For this, plant organic matter is used, which minimizes the use of mineral fertilizers. This approach allows you to eat healthy, safe and organic vegetables from the garden.
Let's summarize
We hope that the information obtained in this article will help you improve the productivity of your garden and get a high-quality, environmentally friendly harvest. Organic fertilizers are very relevant. So, using weeds as the preparation of solutions, you can not only get rid of them in the beds, but also benefit the plantings.
We invite you to watch a video that will expand your knowledge of the preparation of fertilizer from nettle:
